There is something to be said for a workplace PC that’s small enough to fit in a lunchbox yet powerful enough to work as your home theatre PC.

And the thing to be said is this: if you don’t steal it, somebody else will.

I’m talking here about Lenovo’s new ThinkCentre M92p Tiny PC, a desktop PC so tiny that Lenovo likes to photograph it next to golf balls, to show just how tiny it is. With a thickness of just 3.3 centimetres, the M92p Tiny is thinner than the diameter of a golf ball. And with a width of just 18 centimetres and a depth of just 18 centimetres, the PC is not much bigger than a delicious pastrami and tomato on rye.

It sells for a rather pricey $1269.

If you happened to take such a sandwich to work in a Tupperware container, chances are the M92P would fit into the container after lunch. (You might leave the power supply for a second trip, though. It’s almost as big as the PC itself.)

Of course, it’s probably not Lenovo’s intention to make a PC so small as to invite workplace theft. Judging from the mounting bracket that came with our trial unit, it seems to be Lenovo’s intention that you attach the M92p Tiny to the back of a monitor, turning that monitor into a very nice all-in-one PC. (Or, technically, an all-in-two PC. But same diff. Once it’s attached to the back of your screen, you’ll never notice the PC is there.)

And judging from the not-at-all-bad touch screen software included with the M92p, it indeed seems to be Lenovo’s intention that you attach it to a touch sensitive monitor, making it very much like an all-in-one.

Once Microsoft’s touch-friendly Windows 8 comes out in late October, an M92p Tiny attached to the back of a touch screen might be very nifty.

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If I had an M92p strapped to the back of my monitor at work, however, my own intention would be a little different from Lenovo’s: my intention would be to strap it to the back of my TV at home and turn it into a pretty decent home theatre PC.

All it would take is that aforementioned Tupperware (not included), some screws or cable ties (not included) to affix it to the TV, and a cable (not included) that takes the M92p Tiny’s Dual-mode Display Port output and converts it to an HDMI input for your TV. That, and a bit of cheek (not included).

Now that I think about it, maybe Lenovo did have workplace pilfering in mind after all, when it designed the M92 Tiny. If the PC isn’t meant to be cunningly repurposed as a home theatre PC, why else would it include a Dual-mode Display Port, when Dual-mode is specifically designed for HDMI output? Why would it include Intel Display Audio technology in the M92p Tiny – an audio device that I believe supports Dolby Surround Sound – if it was meant to be used at work?

I don’t think Lenovo wants you to use this computer at work at all. With so many theft-friendly and home-friendly features, Lenovo is practically begging you to steal it and take it home. Not begging. Demanding. Steal this PC!

And why not? It’s actually pretty powerful for such a small unit. The model we tested came with a 2.9 GHz Ivy Bridge Core i5 processor, and 4 megabytes of RAM which you might like to upgrade with another 4 gigabytes. Compared to other all-in-one PCs we’ve reviewed this year, and compared to the notebook PCs we’ve been reviewing lately, the Lenovo did very well in our benchmarks.

It should be noted that, in order for it to pass for a so-called “work-oriented" PC, Lenovo hasn’t included a discrete graphics processor with the PC, relying instead on the graphics processor inside the Core i5. But don’t be fooled! The graphics in Ivy Bridge aren’t all that bad, and the machine will be more than powerful enough for all your home audio-visual needs. It didn’t do too badly in our 3D graphics tests. It’s not fast enough for demanding 3D games, but for casual games and for videos and music it will do just fine.

There’s another reason, too, why you should take your M92p Tiny home, should you be lucky enough to be given one by your employer: it lies and deserves to be punished.

When we were setting up our review unit here in the Labs, we were utterly overjoyed to see that, as part of the installation process, Lenovo has given users the “Do Not Protect Me" option of not installing Norton anti-virus software. Typically when you get a new PC, you have to suffer through Norton’s relentless nagging and irritating pop ups until you summon up the energy to uninstall the damned thing once and for all.

But not so with the Lenovo (or so we thought). When you start up the M92p, you’re greeted with a Windows 7 desktop that – get this – has nothing on it but the wastebin! There is no junk, no bloatware on this PC. All that Lenovo has pre-installed is Google Chrome, an excellent alternative to Internet Explorer that I always install as one of the very first things on a new PC. I almost wept with relief and joy when I saw what Lenovo had done.

And then, despite having told the installation process not to install Norton, one of Norton’s irritating pop ups popped up (ruining a benchmark test, I’ll have you know) and I actually did weep. Damn you Norton! Damn you Lenovo for lying to me! Damn you M92p Tiny! I’m taking you home.